This invention is related in general to the field of telecommunications systems. More particularly, the invention is related to a system and method for Application Location Register (ALR) routing in a telecommunications network.
Wireless or Personal Communication Service (PCS) providers have been, until recently, able to store and maintain subscriber information and current location data on only one home location register (HLR). However, due to the escalating number of subscribers and the rapid expansion of the wireless (PCS) communications networks, it has become necessary to employ multiple home location registers to accommodate the growth.
By using multiple home location registers in the wireless communications network, it becomes necessary to devise a system and method to route the query messages and location updates to the proper home location register. A proposed solution is to provide a database in the service control point (SCP) in the telecommunications network, which maintains routing information. However, a serious drawback with this solution is the additional traffic it may cause in the signaling system no. 7 (SS7) network by routing these additional queries from the mobile switching centers (MSCs) to the service transfer points (STPs) and then to the service control point. These queries add to the existing signaling traffic that accomplish toll-free calling, number portability, and other global title translation (GTT) queries to provide services such as line information database (LIDB) services, switch based services (SBS) such as certain Bellcore""s CLASS(copyright) services, calling name (CNAM) delivery, and interswitch voice messaging (ISVM). Due to the anticipated large overall query volume, the SS7 link set between the service control point and signal transfer point becomes a troublesome bottleneck, creating a potentially substantial negative impact to the network""s ability to route calls and provide services.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a solution to the application location register routing problem for multiple home location registers. The teachings of the present invention provides a system and method for application location register routing which addresses this problem.
In one aspect of the invention, a method for application location register routing in a signal transfer point in a wireless telecommunications network is provided. The method includes the steps of receiving a query message requesting for information related to a specific mobile telecommunications customer, decoding the query message and obtaining a translation type and a global title address therefrom, looking up the translation type in a first database residing in the signal transfer point and determining a location of a second database residing in the signal transfer point for processing the query message. Thereafter, at least a predetermined portion of the global title address is used to look up, in the second database residing in the signal transfer point, to obtain a network address of a destination for processing the query message. The query message is then forwarded to a network node in the wireless telecommunications network specified by the network address.
In another aspect of the invention, a system for application location register routing in a wireless telecommunications network includes a first cluster of processors adapted for receiving a query message requesting for information related to a specific mobile telecommunications customer, a first database being accessible by the first cluster of processors and having location information of a second database, and a second cluster of processors co-located with the first cluster of processors and being adapted for receiving at least a portion of the query message from the first cluster of processors. The second cluster of processors is dedicated to process application location register routing. A second database is accessible by the second cluster of processor and stores network addresses specifying the destinations of the query messages. The second cluster of processors are adapted to obtaining the network addresses from the second database and forwarding the network address to the first cluster of processors.